Federal, state, and city officials gathered outside the Curley Community Center in South Boston today to brief the public about recent and developing improvements to William J. Day Boulevard, including a pilot program that will use speed humps as “traffic calming devices” on the heavily-travelled thoroughfare.

The group of officials, which included Transportation Secretary and CEO Stephanie Pollock, Congressman Stephen Lynch, Senator Nick Collins, and Highway Administrator Jonathan Gulliver, looked on as workers installed the plastic speed humps before addressing the media gathered outside the community center.

Gulliver explained that the speed humps, a temporary measure that will be in place until mid-November, are intended to “provide tactile and visual feedback” to motorists, thereby encouraging them to decrease their speed.

“We’re going to be monitoring speeds and traffic patterns to see if they’re effective,” he explained.

The speed-reduction efforts come in the wake of several fatalities along the stretch of road and nearby connectors in South Boston, including the death of a young child who was struck by a speeding vehicle on L Street. After outcry and increased pressure from neighborhood residents, local representatives are looking to hasten safety improvements to the area’s roadways.

Rep. Lynch, who in recent weeks proposed a joint state and city task force on pedestrian and bicyclist safety, pointed to growth and navigation apps as factors in the uptick of traffic on the boulevard.

Rep. Lynch, Senator Collins, Councillor Flynn and other officials spoke about the safety enhancements. Dan Sheehan photo

“The goal here really is to try to stay ahead of the growth that’s occurring in the city of Boston,” he said. “Right now there’s already eight million square feet of development, both on the South Boston waterfront and in the Financial District. They’re gonna draw a lot of traffic from the expressway, and now with these apps, we’ve seen a pattern where when the expressway backs up, the apps are directing motorists to come right down here and go through the residential area of South Boston.”

But slowing growth is only part of the strategy, pointed out Secretary Pollock.

“This is a process that requires both engineering and education,” she said, reasoning that infrastructural adjustments on the roadway like speed humps and lane demarcations will need to be accompanied by caution and compassion on the part of motorists.

A new draft of MassDOT’s 2018 Pedestrian Transportation Plan, which was released on the department’s website earlier this week, aims to reduce pedestrian deaths by updating walking infrastructure and increasing walkability in cities across the Commonwealth. The public comment period for the plan will remain open until October 17.

A follow-up public meeting on pedestrian and bicycle safety will take place Monday evening at 6:30 p.m. at the Tynan School on 4th Street.